As in all areas of antiques (and coins can be classified
as antiques whether they're 100-year-old American examples or those of Ancient
Rome), there are dishonest individuals out to make a few fast bucks from the
unwary and the uninitiated.

Naturally, those coins which have the greatest market
value are selected for doctoring or faking in some way or another. Ancient gold
has been copied with varying degrees of success for hundreds of years. Even
ancient and medieval silver has been reproduced almost too well. But who'd
think there are those who'd doctor an American cent to look like what it isn't?

In the field of United States coins, there are three principal
means which occasionally are used to make collectors' items.

First is the restrike, a sometimes legitimate production
of the U. S. Mint, but not legitimately produced in the purported year of
issue. Through the unofficial efforts of certain mint workers in the past, rare
coins have been produced to meet the demand-and cash-of collectors.

Second is the doctored coin: the mint mark of a common
dollar is removed to make it a rarity; part of a numeral is cut away to make it
look like another; a Buffalo's leg is chiseled off to make it resemble the
legitimate 3-legged rarity.

Third is the deliberate attempt to make the proverbial
silk purse out of a sow's ear. In such an attempt, a character secretly copper-plates a steel cent of 1943 to make it
appear as an accidental product (and hence a supposed rarity) of the official
U. S. Mint. Sharpers sometimes buff silver coins to make them appear to be the
mirror-finished proofs of a premium year. Such coins would never fool an expert
numismatist, but they have been sold at “bargain” prices to the
unwary.

Of course, the out-and-out counterfeit is not an attempt
to fool the coin collectors, but to defraud the United States government. While
counterfeiting is not practiced much in this country today, due to an alert
Secret Service, there was the case of a man who issued his own Jefferson
nickels in considerable quantity back in 1944.

His copies were good enough to go unnoticed for several
years. Then an alert coin collector detected the almost minor oversight of the
copyist. In that war year (1944), the United States nickel bore the mint mark
“P” above the dome of Jefferson's Monticello home. The counterfeiter
failed to include that small detail in his version of the 1944 Jefferson nickel,
and it led to his undoing.

There are those who won't quarrel with the restrike, even
though it admittedly was struck some time after the year of original issue. In
the case of certain coin dates, restrikes are the only ones available. But, where
an original and a restrike of a certain date can be had, the original coin
almost always commands a higher premium.

One of the better-known restrikes is the 1804 large
copper cent. This fake was manufactured in about 1860 by some employees of the
U.S Mint. The 1804 large cent has always been more or less of a rarity, and
there undoubtedly was a considerable demand for it even a hundred years ago.
But whether the mint workers fabricated the fake to make money or merely to please friends and relatives, is not
known.

The 1804 restrike probably would never fool a numismatist
worthy of the name. The workers found a discarded and rusty die of 1804,
somewhat cracked and battered. They didn't bother to find (or couldn't locate)
a reverse die of the proper type. Instead they settled for one of the style
used some iq, years later.

The resulting restrike is a coin well-pitted on the
obverse and with a reverse design that doesn't match those which preceded or
immediately followed it. This so-called 1804 restrike, in Uncirculated
condition, is valued at about a fourth as much as a genuine 1804 in only Fine
condition.

The large silver dollar of that same year- 1804 -is
probably the most publicized rarity of all American coins. Whenever it is
offered for sale at auction, it is likely to bring in the neighborhood of
$30,000.

There is a great big mystery as to what happened to the
19,570 silver dollars which the mint director reported were coined between
January 7 and March 28, 1804- Coinage of silver dollars was stopped abruptly on
that date by the mint to prevent exportation abroad, because its bullion value
was greater than a dollar.

Were the 19,570 coined up to the March day tossed back
into the melting pat? It would appear likely, but no one can be certain.

Through the years, various other theories as to the
disappearance of those 1804 dollars have been advanced. They include:

The dollars were exported immediately, either as coin or
as bullion.

They were put aboard a vessel bound for China, and the
vessel and its cargo were lost at sea.

The entire production was exported to the Far East. They
were part of tribute paid to the Barbary pirates.

All were captured by the British.

The 19,000 were stolen and are presently buried-where, no
one knows.

The 14 or so examples of the 1804 dollar in existence
today are known as “originals” and “restrikes: “ It is
possible that half of these, dubbed “originals,” were the seven 1804
silver dollars reserved for assay. The “restrikes” probably were
struck at the Philadelphia mint between 1836 and 1842, although no one can say
for sure.

Phony 1804 dollars, outright fakes, have been fabricated:
some so cleverly that they fool even the experts-for a time. The usual way to
manufacture a phony 1804 is to secure an 1801 dollar, remove the final “1”
in the date and solder a “4” onto the coin in its place.

Careful study with the strongest magnifying glass might
reveal the alteration to an expert. To the average collector, only the
“bargain” price asked might keep him from acquiring it-that and the
knowledge that such fake 1804 dollars do exist.

The doctored coin is one that started life legitimately
enough but somewhere along the way fell into the hands of a get-rich-quick
artist and was transformed into an imitation of a much more valuable brother.

An excellent example of the coin which may be doctored is
the 1944 Lincoln cent produced by the Denver mint. In all, more than 430
million such Lincolns were struck there. Its catalog value, even in the
shiniest of Uncirculated, is less than 50 cents.

But little old 1944 has a rich ancestor-the 1914 Lincoln
cent that also had its birthplace in Denver. This wealthy relative of 1914 is
currently rated at well above $400 in Unciruclated.

Conniving souls on occasion have sought to level out this
difference in financial rating. Through dextrous use of engraving tools, they doctor the first “4” of the
1944 cent, and before long it straightens out to look very much like the “1”
in the rich relative of 1914

Such altered-date coins have been offered in the past;
they will be in the future. One quick check can be made: the doctored 1944 has
too much space between the “9” and the “1,” where
everything but the upright of the “4” has been removed.

Proof positive can be found through use of a good
magnifying glass. The designer's initials “VDB” can be seen on Lincoln's
right shoulder, near the rim, on the altered 1944-D. Genuine 1914-D Lincoln
cents did not carry these initials. Sharpers sometimes - even try to tool away
the tiny initials from the 1944 coin, but a good glass will reveal the
scratches made in the effort.

Less common, but by no means rare, is the
“doctored” 1909-S Indian cent. Here the relatively common 1909 Indian
is made into his rarer brother from the San Francisco mint. How? By soldering a
tiny “S” to the correct spot on the reverse side. Some sharpers do
not even bother to use solder, being fairly confident that ordinary glue will
hold the “S” in place until they can depart to safer climes.

An 1895 silver dollar of the Philadelphia mint (no mint
mark) is cataloged at well over a thousand dollars in Proof condition. It is a
challenge that would appeal to any good con man. So he may take an Uncirculated
1895 dollar minted at New Orleans (catalog value around $60) and carefully
remove the “O” mint letter.

The result is an 1895 dollar that would easily fool the
average collector. It looks exactly like the thousand-dollar Philadelphia job,
except that a powerful magnifying glass will show minute scratches in the area
from which the unwanted mint letter was removed.

Less valuable, but still worth a dishonest effort by the
confidence clan, is the 3-legged Buffalo nickel produced at the Denver mint in 1937. The genuine coin shows the
Buffalo with only three legs, the fourth having almost disappeared as a result
of a break in the die.

The sharper takes a regular ig37-D nickel and carefully
tools away the offending fourth leg. The result is that a coin cataloging only
$3.50 now looks like a rarity with a $90 catalog value.

So, unless you can spot a doctored coin easily and with
certainty from a few paces off, beware the stranger bearing 3-legged nickels.

In Commemorative half dollars, there is a great price
difference between the two 1922 issues of the Grant Memorial coin: $16 for the
commoner; $130 for the rarer. The more valuable Grant has a star in the obverse
field. So what could be simpler for the con man than to procure a star punch
and oblige his customers?

Only one thing is wrong with this bit of skullduggery when
he punches his fake star into place, a flattened spot appears on the reverse of
the coin. Thus, the wise collector scrutinizes a Grant with Star half dollar
with extreme care - on both sides.

In the world of the phony, beware the coin which has been
buffed to look like a Proof.

Proof coins are carefully struck under great pressure,
using only specially polished planchets (or blanks). The result is a coin
which, in addition to almost needle sharpness of detail throughout, has a
mirror-like finish in the field (background).

Now, a buffed coin, at first glance, may look like a
Proof. Under the magnifying glass, however, the needle-sharp detail is nowhere
to be seen. There appear to be countless tiny scratches, and there's a peculiar
glaze over all, that's not at all Prooflike.

Gold coins frequently are buffed in an attempt to make them resemble Uncirculated or Proof coins. In every case,
a reasonably good glass will show it is neither-even if you haven't learned to
identify that peculiar glaze that buffing brings.

With the current craze for Proof sets, silver coins also
have been buffed by get-rich-quick artists in an attempt to sell them at right
smart, if not exorbitant, prices. Again, place reliance on a good glass before
you fall for “Proofs” at bargain prices.

With all phonies, real or suspected, whether restrikes,
doctored coins, or the silk-purse productions, own and learn to rely on a good
magnifying glass. Don't be afraid to use it. A reputable dealer or fellow
collector is flattered that you care enough to scan the very best.